Original Sin
by Hawki
Summary: RS Oneshot: "Why are you here? What you interfere with now is bigger than you can imagine. If you continue, you will bring down the Heavens' wrath. It is written. It is their time to give penance. You are but one man. They are no longer you people to save."


**Original Sin**

How many times have I walked down this road?

I wake, and see the most dangerous creatures in all realities close in on me. Once more, I have been shackled, and once more, the chains are broken. The creatures recoil, and in their shining eyes, I see the spark of fear. For a moment, I wonder what they see in mine, before I proceed to tear them limb from limb with my bare hands. Hands that are already soaked with the blood of millions, even before the cycle repeated itself. I have been on a version of Mars more times than I can count. For always, mankind takes the same path. Eden is defiled, and they leave the garden. They arrive at a red planet, long dead, before mankind climbed down from the trees and first gazed upon the stars. Seeds of destruction sown from the moment the light touched their eyes, never knowing that beyond such eyes are the souls. And souls are ripe for the taking.

I take armour upon my body, and grimace, as my flesh is purified of their taint. Shotgun is my sword, and rage is my shield, and I shall need both as these foul creatures stalk these halls. They who have carved their marks with the blood of the guilty and the innocent alike. There is music within murder, and long have we performed this dance. Their lessers. Their greaters. As I hear the sound of alarms, as I hear the last testament of the UAC repeated unto infinity, as the bell rings for Mars and Earth, I fight through the halls of this base. Until, at last, I see a leader among them. One of gleaming armour, glowing eyes, and shining sword. One, who represents the power of the most dangerous force in all Creation. One, who is born of fire and fury. One, who shares the blood of all the creatures that prowl these halls.

It is an angel.

We dance and weave a thousand times, as surely as planets orbit the stars that flicker briefly in the night. For as much fear as the thralls of Heaven have for me, their hatred matches it. And as we dance, I see their work – the bodies of the sons of Adam and daughters of Eve, scattered throughout the floor. The marks of Cross, Crescent, and Star carved into them, as a monument to all their sins. They have been judged, and judgement has been delivered in the only manner that Heaven knows. And thus, as I tear off the angel's right wing, and cut its throat with its sharpened edges, I deliver judgement of my own, such as it is. For judgement is not what I am interested in, nor justice. I have long since learnt that the universe provides none of it.

I move on and take the elevator to the surface. Someone babbles to me over the radio, offering the same excuses. The same lies. Once, they might have angered me, but now, I feel nothing. I have seen Earth burn a thousand times, and will no doubt see it burn ten-thousand times more. All I can do is fight, until the cycle is ended. Until Heaven is stopped.

_My son._

And the words of the Seraph will not dissuade me. Not this messenger of a "higher authority," who appears before me as I step onto the surface of Mars. Just as he did on the Umbral Plains.

_Why do you fight us?_

Must he ask that? Does he truly not know? Can a servant of Heaven know so much, yet also so little?

_I gave you the power to rise up against Hell. I have provided you with blood and bone, and the means to obtain more of it. And now, after our final victory over Hell, you turn against us?_

He doesn't know. He truly doesn't know.

_It is still their time to suffer. For sin has tainted all realities, and mankind has yet to expunge it. They seek the fruits of forbidden knowledge, be it from the fires of Hell, or the lights of Heaven. Even if you share blood, can you say that you share bond?_

I cannot. Not really. When you've seen the human race meet its end in more realities than you can count, and its salvation in just a handful, one tends to feel disconnected. If anything, I feel more kinship with the demons – even if they are passed beyond my sight.

_Leave, Doom Slayer. Depart this place. The wrath of Heaven has come to this world, as it shall all worlds. You have smothered the fires of Hell, and for that, we are eternally grateful. But to stand against us, to fight us…that is madness. The same madness that draws your people to this world over and over, to commit self-destruction without absolution._

I cock the shotgun and begin marching over the sands of Mars. Yet the Seraph still whispers, as he always does.

_Why?!_

Or yells.

_Why, my son, why? _The Seraph asks. _On that day, so long ago as the passing of an age, I bid you to rip and tear, until it is done. Well it _is_ done. Your burden is over. Why fight us? What could possibly give you the power to topple Heaven itself?_

"Rip and tear," I whisper.

_The Seraph says nothing – perhaps it's surprised that words have escaped my lips after so long. In truth, I'm surprised myself._

"Rip and tear, until it is done," I whisper. I gesture across Mars – to the burning UAC facilities. At the flight of angels coming towards me. At Wheels of Ezekiel erupting from the ground. "It is not yet done."

_Then you are forever damned._

I do not dispute that. For I am. I was damned the moment I set foot on Phobos, all those ages ago. But it matters not.

I have ripped out the beating heart of Hell and held it aloft for all Creation to see. And when at last, the final pillar of Heaven is toppled, when no stone lays upon another….then, at last, it shall be done.

Until then, Armageddon.


End file.
